Specific policies for female guest workers needed

Specific policies should be designed for Vietnamese female guest
workers to support them in dealing with risks and difficulties arising
while working and when returning home, heard a seminar on April 3.

The seminar was jointly held by the Overseas Workers Management
Department of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, and
the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN
Women).

Participants pointed out that current legal
regulations and policies relating to the issue of working abroad are
currently applied for both male and female guest workers.

And, when returning home, they have met with difficulties for
re-integration and access to public services and employment,
participants noted.

Backward social perceptions against women working abroad are other obstacles.

According to Shoko Ishikawa, UN Women Chief Representative in
Vietnam, over the past five years, UN Women has coordinated with
Vietnamese authorised agencies to implement a project to empower women
contracted to work abroad, which aims to increase public awareness of
gender equality.

The projects also targets enhanced
capacity for officials and managers at Vietnamese enterprises
specialising in sending workers abroad, said Ishikawa.

Deputy head of the Overseas Workers Management Department Pham Viet
Huong said the department has focused on measures to protect the
legitimate rights and interests of overseas Vietnamese workers, through
working closely with the governments of the host countries.

As many as 500,000 Vietnamese labourers are working in over 40
countries and territories around the globe. Women accounted for 35
percent of the 90,000 Vietnamese working abroad a year averagely during
the past five years.